1. What is the definition of word?
The minimal free form of a language, which has a given sound, meaning and syntactic function. Word: a single unit of language which means something and can be spoken or written.
A sound or a combination of sounds, or its reprentation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or of a combination of morphemes.
(Linguistics) one of the units of speech or writing that native speakers of a language usually regard as the smallest isolable meaningful element of the language, although linguists would analyze the further into morphemes Related adjective lexical, verbal.
(Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science) Computing a t of bits ud to store, transmit, or operate upon an item of information in a computer, such as a program instruction.
Definition of a word
Aristotle defined a word as the smallest significant unit of speech - a definition which held sway until recently. Modern methods of analysis have discovered mantic units below the word level. A new term is therefore needed to denote the smallest significant element of speech; in contemporary linguistic theory it is known as a morpheme.
Bloomfield distinguishes between two types of linguistic forms: free forms and bound forms. Free forms can stand by themlves and sometimes act as a complete utterance whereas bound forms cannot. For example, the word nicely contains the free form nice, and the bound form -ly. The former can occur as an independent unit and even as a ntence (What about the other film? - Nice). But the suffix -ly cannot stand by itlf, to say nothing of acting as a complete utterance. According to Bloomfield, a word is a minimal free form.
Lexicology deals by definition with words and wordforming morphemes, that is to
say, with significant units. It follows that the elements must be investigated in their form and in their meaning. Therefore, from the lexicological point of view, a word is a combination of form (phonological) and meaning (lexical and grammatical). In addition, a word acts as a structural unit of a ntence.
2. What does onomatopoetic motivation mean? What does mantic motivation mean? Does onomatopoeia motivation contradict the statement that there is no natural connection between sound and mean?
Onomatopoeia is derived from Greek onomatopoiia "word-making": onoma, -matos "name" + poieo "make". Various other terms have been suggested, such as echoism (Jespern) and "phonaesthetic function" (Firth). Onomatopoeic motivation means defining the principle of motivation by sound. The sounds of such words as cuckoo, ding-dong, swish, buzz, em to be appropriate to their ns. But it has to be pointed out that onomatopoeic words constitute only a small part of the vocabulary. The forms of words normally have only a conventional relationship with what they refer to. According to
Stephen Ullmann, onomatopoeic formation can be divided into primary onomatopoeia and condary onomatopoeia.
Ⅱ. Semantic motivation
Semantic motivation means that motivation is bad on mantic factors. It is a kind of mental association. When we speak of the bonnet or the hood of a car, of a coat of paint, or of potatoes cooked in their jackets, the expressions are motivated by the similarity between the garments and the objects referred to. In the same way, when we say the cloth for the clergy, silk for a Q. C., or "town and gown" for "town and university", there is mantic motivation due to the fact that the garments in question are cloly associated with the persons they designate. Both types of expression are figurative: the former are metaphorical, bad on some similarity between the two elements, the latter are metonymic, founded on some external connection.
Sound and meaning
The Naturalists have argued that the origin of language lies in onomatopoeia, that people began talking by creating iconic signs to imitate the sounds heard around them in nature. They maintain that there is a natural connection between sound and meaning. The Conventionalists, on the other hand, hold that the relations between sound and meaning are conventional and arbitrary. Facts have proved this argument to be valid. Words that convey the same meaning have different phonological forms in different languages - for example, English meat / mi:t /,Chine ròu. Alternatively, the same phonological forms may convey different meanings - for example, sight, site, cite.
3. How many kinds of word meaning are there in English?
Word meaning is made up of various components which are interrelated and interdependent. The components are commonly described as types of meaning. Two main types of word meaning are grammatical and lexical.
Grammatical meaning: the meaning in terms of grammar
lexical meaning: Conceptual meaning also called “denotative” or “cognitive” meaning. This refers to the definition given in the dictionary. It is widely assumed to be the central factor in linguistic communication and is integral to the esntial functioning of language.
Associative meaning meaning associated with the conceptual meaning which can be further divided into following types:
a) connotative meaning
b) social meaning
c) affective meaning
d) reflected meaning
